Thursday, March 26, 2009

I Feed Brownies to Jehovah's Witnesses

Lately we've had a lot of Jehovah's Witnesses visit our house here in the woods.

Personally, I think it's because I give them brownies.

What do you do when a Jehovah's Witness knocks on your door?

I have been told in the past to not even encourage anything with these folks -- just slam the door in their faces and make them go away.

But that changed for me after I started attending our church, Quest Community in Lexington, Kentucky.

I started viewing people through a different lens -- as lost wanderers seeking love and hope and a relationship with God. Well ... I have all of that at my house, plus brownies. I'll happily share it with anyone who knocks on my door.

I may disagree with Jehovah's Witnesses (strongly!), but does that mean I should be rude by shouting them down and shutting them out?

So now, I now view these visits as "evangelism opportunities."

If they can be so courageous to come to a stranger's home, I can be courteous and also share with them my beliefs.

"Come in," I tell them.

They hesitate. I smile. They smile back. They say thank you. They enter.

The dog wags his tail, sensing from me that these are friendly guests. They comment on the cute dog. I smile.

"My son Neil and I are baking brownies right now. You've caught us as we're mixing up the batter. Would you like to come into the kitchen and talk?"

They look at each other. Is this woman for real?

They follow me into the kitchen, where Neil has just immersed his little fist into the entire bowl of brown batter.

"Well, I guess you won't be wanting any of these brownies when they come out of the oven."

They laugh.

They ask me if I read the Bible.

As I clean up the little chocolate-covered monster, I say yes, not only do I read the Bible, but I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He is right here in the house with us at this moment.

Now who is the crazy lady?

Who do you think wants to get away?

As long as they will stand there and talk to me, I will tell them what I believe.

I tell them gladly. I tell them sweetly. I tell them forcefully, but diplomatically.

And then I tell them that nothing will change my mind, because I am a fool for Christ and He died for my sins, and He died for their sins, too.

"Oh, by the way," I say ... "I write blogs about this. Here. Let me give you a business card. It has one of my blog sites on it."

They wait while I go to my office. I hand them the cards. They say thank you. I say you're welcome.

"Tell you what," I say. "I will read the literature you have brought here on one condition. You read my blog. The next time you come over, we'll have brownies -- and I promise you they won't be brownies that has had a five-year-old's fist in the batter -- and we will talk about your literature, and we will talk about my blog. Everything I believe is in my blog."

They say OK. But I know from their faces that they will not read the blog.

These specific two do not come back.

However, five weeks later, the same mini van pulls up in my driveway -- and different Jehovah's Witneses get out of it.

I guess this is a new pair that would like to try out some of my brownies.

I guess they really can't get enough of hearing about how much Jesus loves them.

9 comments:

  1. Refreshing blog! Will link to you pronto...
    Trisha..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Trisha!

    Glad you enjoyed the blog entry today. Hope you come back again to visit and post comments.

    God bless,
    Heidi

    ReplyDelete
  3. Loved this post. You know you are on a list now and will be getting regular visits! I admire your way of handling their visit. Seems they always come to my door when my husband has worked a night shift and just got to sleep. The knocking starts the dogs barking which makes me testy. I have to take a deep breath to smile nice and tell them no thanks. It's really trying.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well, I can tell you the honest truth ... if anyone comes to my door at night when my husband is out, the door goes unanswered. Our neck of the woods has too many home invasions for me to unbolt my door after the sun goes down, unfortunately.
    I have my limits, too! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Heidi, First of all, thank you for visiting my blog and commenting on Fassie!
    When I was trying to learn more about God and Jesus, i let the jehova's witness in one day, i wanted to know, they asked could they come back, i said sure, the next week they were back. They visited with me once a week for one month when i decided that they were not for me. my mother told me i made a huge mistake letting them in my house. As i tried to explain i didnt agree with alot of their beliefs, one of the ladies said "but you said you didnt know and you wanted to learn"
    yes, thats what i said, i didnt know much about them and i wanted to learn a little about them and what i learned i didnt agree with. plain and simple!
    At this time my husband and i lived in a mobile home in a mobile home park. i was pregnant with my first daughter who is 15 now.
    These people would NOT leave me alone even after i asked them not to come back. These particular ones didnt come back but others kept coming. I was pregnant my emotions were going haywire and i didnt want to be mean, so i asked my husband to handle it....oh my goodness did he ever!
    He ran out the door, huffing and puffing, and said "oh great yall are here! im so glad, i was praying for help, and you showed, youre jehovas witness right?"
    "yes yes we are" they said
    My husband continued to act as if he was out of breath and grabbed one by the hand and started tugging and said "please come in, stuff is flying through the air, the lights keep flickering off and on, i keep hearing strange voices telling me to get out, its the darn ghosts again, i just cant get rid of them"
    I was standing at the window and about fell over laughing. He continued with his ghostly exaggeration and then one said "sir you need an exorcist we dont do that im so sorry good luck" and they jumped in their car and left.
    THEY NEVER CAME BACK
    Once we found us a little church to attend, and i really liked it, i asked the preacher one day why the jehovas believed the way they do..he went on to tell me that we all have our own beliefs and that you have to give them credit that they do go out and witness! he said when they come to his house he tells them sure i will listen on one condition..you will listen to me tell you about jesus christ! he said they always leave after that.
    I always felt bad for my husband doing that, but then again, he did get rid of them.
    Years later after moving into a nice house of our own, about 2 years ago they showed up at the house. I did what that preacher said he did, and i told them that they would have a hard time convincing me other wise. they told me thank you and to have a good day.

    I do love your approach with the brownies and the blog! that is so awesome, maybe next time when they come back i will direct them to your blog haha.

    Im going to follow you Heidi, i love your blog its just awesome!
    Kelly

    ReplyDelete
  6. Actually JW's do believe in Jesus and believe that he is God's son.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi spiritual brother, and thanks for your comment.
    Here in America, at least, every JW I have encountered does not believe in Jesus's divinity.
    Maybe in India where you are from, there is a different sect of JWs that does believe He is God's Son. If so, my apologies for not knowing this.
    I've had numerous discussions with JWs, and not just here in Kentucky but in other parts of our nation. Each and every time, they do not want to continue to discuss Jesus's divinity or acknowledge it or say they believe in it.
    If you'd like to continue this discussion via email, my address is randrwriting@hotmail.com.
    This blog is intended for Christians to discuss challenges they face in sharing their faith and to receive encouragement from each other. So actually I won't be publishing further comments concerning the debate over what JWs believe.
    But I'm happy to engage you one on one.

    Thanks so much, and God bless you,
    Heidi

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Kelly!
    Thanks for your comment. What a story you tell about your husband and the "ghosts!"

    But you're right about just being forthright and saying straight out what you believe and that you will not be shaken from it. In general, I think this is the best approach we can take, whether we're dealing with cult members, atheists, Wiccas, whatever.

    One thing I have learned this year from attending my church is that people from ALL walks of life do find Jesus, and when they do, they are forever and miraculously changed. With this in mind, it has changed the way I communicate with those of different beliefs. I am not nearly as defensive or angry and view them (hopefully) through eyes that Jesus wants me to view them.
    This really changes my discussion tactics. I find myself feeling much more love and respect. I can take the comments that normally would have created anger and realize they are not directed at me but at God. So it's easy for me to not take it personally and realize the person is railing against Truth. This in turn gives me the clarity of mind I need to communicate.
    Hope this helps a little. Glad we found each other online! I am sorry about your dog. She looked like such a sweetie in the photos. Wow, what a smart little friend you had. :-)

    Blessings, and have a great day,
    Heidi

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm never sure what to tell them. Part of me feels like I should witness to them and the other part tells me I should heed scripture and not invite them in. I'm not convinced that they would listen to anything I had to say, afterall, they're not allowed to read the Bible without a JW study guide. My daughter's preschool teacher is a JW and I am thankful for the relationship/friendship I was able to build with her. I prayed that the Lord would open opportunities for me to talk to her. Little by little, throughout the year we were able to talk. She usually brought it up. We never went out to eat or anything like that to talk, but I believe that the Lord used this time to plant seeds.

    ReplyDelete